An Empirical Investigation of Female Entrepreneurship & Innovation Activities in Greece

The importance of entrepreneurship for economic growth has been emphasised by economic literature. The recent debate on the determinants of output growth has concentrated mainly on the role of knowledge, typically produced by a specific sector of the economy, and furthermore in the role of entrepreneurship and the implications on economic growth. Much of the recent work on economic growth can be viewed as refining the basic economic insights of classical economists. The statistical analysis is therefore very important. Nowadays there are well-organized databases, and the researcher can easily decide about the sample, rather than some years ago. Research and Development, technical change and entrepreneurship are directly related with industrial infrastructure, productivity effects and regional development. Entrepreneurship aims to reinforce the competitiveness, and to succeed the modernisation process and the convergence between firms and industries in the member states, adopting statistical techniques, using the appropriate software. This paper attempts to examine the role of entrepreneurship, and those of innovation activities (technical change, research and development and diffusion of technology) and the effects of output growth, using both a theoretical and empirical approach in a Greek case study. In particular, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the framework, the obstacles, the determinant factors using the appropriate statistical techniques and furthermore the role of female entrepreneurship in the Greek firms. It also attempts to examine the role of female entrepreneurship on innovation activities and the effects on sustainable development and in the implications on growth, economic integration, regional development and social change.

Design and Inference in Nonlinear Problems

The aim of this thesis is to review and augment the theory and methods of optimal nonlinear experimental design. It represents a continuation of the work on experimental design in the Department of Statistics in Glasgow University (Silvey and Titterington (1973), Ford (1976), Silvey (1980), Titterington (1980a,b), Ford and Silvey (1980), Torsney (1981) among others). Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to the nonlinear problem. In Chapter 2 we formulate the appropriate notation needed for the development of this thesis. The main assumptions, which we will recall if needed, and the necessary theory is discussed. In Chapter 3 the idea of the optimal nonlinear experimental design is formulated for any convex criterion function. This leads to traditional definitions as special cases. We also focus on the canonical form of a design under c(e)-optimality. Partially nonlinear models are reviewed and the design for a subset of parameters is discussed in the context of the general optimality criterion function. The geometrical aspects of the nonlinear case are compared and contrasted with the linear case. Chapters 4 and 5 are devoted to strategies for the construction of the nonlinear optimal designs. Alternative approaches for the static design problem are discussed in Chapter 4. Emphasis is given to the sequential approach to design in Chapter 5. There, binary response problems are also tackled and the stochastic approximation method is reviewed and discussed. Chapter 6 is devoted to confidence intervals. The problem of constructing confidence Intervals if the sequential principle of design is adopted is discussed and a suggestion is given. As a result a simulation study is presented. In Chapter 7 two more simulation studies are analysed, the first for a one parameter binary problem and the second for a two parameter regression problem. Different designing procedures are applied and more emphasis is given to sequential methods. The stochastic approximation method is discussed as a fully sequential method. The performance of approximate confidence intervals is investigated. Chapter 8 considers a compromise between the static and fully sequential design. The calibration problem is used as an example and investigated in a (yet another) simulation study. The maxi-min efficiency design is derived and investigated. In Chapter 9 we examine a design problem in rhythmometry involving the cosinor function. Different design criteria are Introduced for the full sample space as well as a truncated form. Geometrical ideas provide a solution to solve this problem. An analytical approach is also offered as a method of solution of this practical design problem

Mathematics vs. Statistics in tackling Environmental Economics uncertainty

In this paper the appropriate background in Mathematics and Statistics is considered in developing methods to investigate Risk Analysis problems associated with Environmental Economics uncertainty. New senses of uncertainty are introduced and a number of sources of uncertainty are discussed and presented. The causes of uncertainty are recognized helping to understand how they affect the adopted policies and how important their management is in any decision-making process. We show Mathematical Models formulate the problem and Statistical models offer possible solutions, restricting the underlying uncertainty, given the model and the error assumptions are correct. As uncertainty is always present we suggest ways on how to handle it

Central corneal thickness in subjects with glaucoma and in normal individuals (with or without pseudoexfoliation syndrome)

Georgios Kitsos, Christos Gartzios, Ioannis Asproudis, Eleni BagliOphthalmology Department, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, GreeceObjective: The evaluation of central corneal thickness (CCT) in subjects with pesudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEXG), primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), and in normotensive individuals with or without pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PXS). Study design/patients and methods: CCT was evaluated with ultrasound pachymetry in a total of 179 individuals: 32 had bilateral PEXG, 55 had bilateral POAG, 35 had PXS, and 57 were healthy individuals without PXS.Results: CCT in PEXG eyes (526.00 ± 34.30 µm) was significantly thinner compared to POAG eyes (549.36 ± 39.3 µm) (P = 0.027) and normal control eyes with (550.64 ± 39.0 µm) or without PXS (547.36 ± 33.1 µm), (P = 0.039 and 0.048 respectively). No statistically significant difference was found comparing CCT values of POAG eyes to control group eyes.Conclusion: The evaluation of CCT is necessary in all patients with glaucoma and especially in those with PEXG due to the thinner cornea and the risk of underestimation of intraocular pressure.Keywords: CCT, pesudoexfoliation syndrome, glaucom

Forget-me-not: History-less Mobile Messaging

Text messaging has long been a popular activity, and today smartphone apps enable users to choose from a plethora of mobile messaging applications. While we know a lot about SMS practices, we know less about practices of messaging applications. In this paper, we take a first step to explore one ubiquitous aspect of mobile messaging – messaging history. We designed, built, and trialled a mobile messaging application without history—named forget-me-not. The two-week trial showed that history-less messaging no longer supports chit-chat as seen in e.g. WhatsApp, but is still considered conversational and more ‘engaging’. Participants expressed being lenient and relaxed about what they wrote. Removing the history allowed us to gain insights into what uses history has in other mobile messaging applications, such as planning events, allowing for distractions, and maintaining multiple conversation threads

On the optimal continuous experimental design problem

The target of this paper is to provide a compact review of the Optimal Experimental Design, the continuous case. Therefore we are referring to the general nonlinear problem in comparison to the linear one

Optimal experimental design for non-linear models: theory and applications

This book tackles the Optimal Non-Linear Experimental Design problem from an applications perspective. At the same time it offers extensive mathematical background material that avoids technicalities, making it accessible to non-mathematicians: Biologists, Medical Statisticians, Sociologists, Engineers, Chemists and Physicists will find new approaches to conducting their experiments. The book is recommended for Graduate Students and Researchers